Seneca Receives BLM Operator of the Year Award

Seneca Resources Corp. was recognized Tuesday as the Bureau of Land Management’s 2012 California Operator of the Year at the 2012 Oil and Gas Conference in Bakersfield.

The award honors a California operator that utilizes best management practices to help achieve safe, environmentally responsible resource development by preventing, avoiding, or mitigating adverse environmental or social impacts. The acknowledgement is also based on overall lease operation and lease compliance.

Seneca is the wholly owned exploration and production subsidiary of National Fuel Gas Company.

“Seneca is being recognized for their diligent operation of the Sespe Oilfield,” BLM California State Director Jim Kenna said in the award letter.

The Sespe Oilfield dates back over 100 years and is well known for its high levels of both oil and gas production.

“Since becoming a federal leaseholder, Seneca has put forth a tremendous effort operating this field in both a safe and productive manner,” Kenna said.

The Sespe Oilfield also is unique because most of the field is within the Los Padres National Forest and portions of it are within a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service California Condor Sanctuary. Seneca has kept sites clean of screws, bolts and other “microtrash” to provide a safer nesting environment for California condors.

“You have also worked diligently to replace old flowlines that has reduced both your footprint and the risk of oil spills,” Kenna said in presenting the award to Seneca. “We truly appreciate the exceptional work of your staff in making your operation both efficient and environmentally friendly. Thanks to your efforts, we are demonstrating that oil and gas development can be done responsibly, using the most current best management practices to reduce your impact to natural resources.”